Solderless badge plate and pin assembly



April 4, 1939.

c. PRIESMEYER SOLDERLESS BADGE PLATE AND PIN ASSEMBLY Filed March 31, 1938 Patented Apr. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFlCE SOLDERLESS BADGE. PLATE AND PIN ASSEMBLY Application March 31,

7 Claims.

My invention relates to the class of badges in which a badge plate (usually made of metal) is fastened to a pin which is disposed behind this plate and by which pin the badge may be attached plate sometimes also is attached to an auxiliary wire loop through which a ribbon may be looped.

For such badges it has long been customary to fasten the relatively stationary shank of such a pin (or a part of a wire loop) to the back of the badge plate, either by means of solder, or by a clamping plate soldered to that plate. In practice, such a soldered fastening is objectionable because of the slowness and care required for the soldering, which undesirably increases the total cost of the badge, particularly for cheap badges. Moreover, the use of solder for such a purpose has the serious objection that the required heating frequently discolors the front of the badge plate unless the solder is of a low melting or so-oalled soft type which will not afford a dependably firm fastening.

In one of its major objects, my present invention aims to avoid the just recited objections to the use of solder, and also the additional cost of an auxiliary pin-clamping plate, by employing a quite inexpensive bifurcated rivet as the auxiliary clamping member, and by shaping a relatively quite small part of the badge plate so as to co-operate with a simple clinching of the shank tip portions of such a rivet for rigidly fastening a pin to the back of this plate.

Furthermore, my invention aims to provide a method whereby a rigid assembly of a badge plate with both a pin (or ribbon-holding loop) and a pin-clamping rivet can speedily be effected by a single punch press operation so as to effect a large reduction in the cost of the badge assembling in proportion to that involved with the 40 use of solder, and with an entire absence of any discoloration of the badge plate.

Illustrative of the manner in which I accomplish my above recited objects, Fig. 1 is a rear elevation, slightly in perspective, showing a badge embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged and fragmentary vertical section, taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged and fragmentary horizontal section taken along the line 3--3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4-is a section allied to Fig. 3, but taken when the hook-carrying'shank of the pin was first inserted between the shanks of the bifurcated rivet during the assembling of the badge.

Fig. 4A is a section allied to Fig. 3, showing a badge assembly which also is rigid although to the lapel of a coat, and in which the badge- 1938, Serial No. 199,083

the rivet-gripped pin shank does not engage the badge plate.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view, partly in section and partly in elevation, and drawn on a scale intermediate that of Figs. 2 and 3, showing the disposition of a badge plate, rivet and pin with respect to the die and plunger of a punch press prior to the punch press operation which effects assemblages such as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of the punch part of Fig. 5 and of the pin supported by it, taken from the line li of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a bottom view of the punch part of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged rear perspective view of the assemblage of Fig. 4, with the badge plate omitted.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged section along the line 9-9 of Fig. 4, showing the indenting of portions of the pin into the plate.

In carrying out my invention after the here illustrated manner for rigidly fastening a metal badge plate P to the stationary shank or leg L of a safety pin, namely the shank which has a hook H at its free end, I first provide that plate with a suitably disposed circular bore B (Fig. 4). Next I provide a bifurcated rivet having a head h of larger diameter than the said bore, and a shank slidably insertible through that bore,and preferably one in which this shank comprises two prongs p presenting opposed fiat faces which diverge away from the said head, and which prongs have their base ends connected to the head of the rivet by a cylindrical shank portion C of less length than the thickness of the badge plate.

Moreover, I preferably employ a rivet in which the spacing between the base-end portions of the two prongs is less than the diameter of the stationary shank of the safety pin, in which the length of each prong is approximately not greater than the circumference of the just identified pin shank, and in which the free ends of the two prongs diverge sufficiently to permit that pin shank to enter easily between these prong ends. Then, while holding the closed safety pin so that both its stationary (hook-carrying) shank L and the movable shank M are disposed in a common plane with the axis of the rivet, I force the said stationary shank further toward the head of the rivet by an operation which spreads the rivet prongs further apart and curves the tip portions of the prongs toward each other into a tight grasp on the stationary pin shank.

Illustrative of means for effecting this operation, Fig. 5 shows a lower die D upon which a (partially shown) badge plate P is seated, and which die has guide pins G rising from it for engaging the converging sides of the star-shaped badge plate of Fig. 1 (as shown by dotted circles in Fig. 1) so as to prevent the badge plate from sliding on the die. of this die has a recess R. suitably positioned with respect to, the said sides and corresponding in size and shape to the head of the rivet selected for my fastening assembly.

As a companion to this die, I provide a punch 3 which has a convexed lower face 3A, a groove 4 (Fig. 7) in its lower face, and a deeper downwardly open recess 5 extending across this groove, This punch also has one side provided with a lateral groove 6 extending in a plane at right angles to the axis of the punch and sufficiently larger than the diameter of the movable shank M of the safety pin so that the said pin (when closed) can readily be snapped over the part 3 of the punch below the groove 6, for disposing the pin (as in Figs. 5 and 6) with its pointed shank M supported by the bottom of the lateral groove 6 and with the resiliency of the pin holding the stationary shank L in the bottom groove 4 of the punch.

When in use, the just described pin-supporting punch is supported above the die with both the center of the bottom recess 5 of the punch and,

the upwardly open recess R. of the die on the axis A of the punch. The operator then digitally inserts a rivet upwardly through a downwardly facing badge plate, slips this upon the die (as in Fig. 5) and rotates the rivet (if necessary) so that the medial plane between the two prongs p alines with that of the bottom groove 4 in the punch.

When the plunger is then forcibly depressed to a suitable extent, the tips of the rivet prongs 10 will straddle the stationary shank L of the safety pin while these prong tips are entering the bottom recess of the punch, and the lowering of the punch causes the said pin shank to spread the said prongs farther apart, thereby spreading the base ends of the prongs so as to indent them into opposite sides of the bore B of the badge plate, or at least to wedge these prongs sufiiciently in the said bore so as to anchor the rivet rigidly to the said plate.

During this lowering of the die, the prong tips engage the bottom recess 5 of the die and owing to its curvature, this recess bends the prong tips around opposite sides of the pin shank L, thereby causing the prongs to grip the said shank tightly, as shown for example in Figs. 3 and 8. If the cylindrical base part C is shorter than the thickness of the badge plate, as in Fig. 3, the just described assembly operation will also indent the pin shank L into the rear face of the plate, and if the rivet base part is approximately equal in length to the badge plate thickness, this pin shank may merely be firmly clamped against the back of the plate.

However, even with somewhat longer rivets, where my above recited procedure does not force the stationary pin shank firmly against the badge plate, I still obtain a rigid assembly because the above described spreading apart of the base portions of the prongs anchors the rivet to the said plate, while the curving of the prong tip towards each other causes these to grip the said pin shank firmly, as illustrated in Fig. 4A. Consequently, I can readily effect the desired rigid assembly in spite of commercial variations in the length of the rivets, in the width of the gap between the In addition, the upper face prongs of such rivets, and in the thickness of the badge plates.

Since the just described punch press operation can readily be effected by any punch press operator, and since every thus assembled badge can readily be snapped off the punch (without opening the pin) because of the resiliency of the pin shanks, the entire manufacturing is highly speedy and inexpensive, in addition to avoiding any discoloration of the badges such as too frequently occurs with the heretofore customary use of solder.

Moreover, while I have heretofore described a particular and manufacturing procedure for use when the member attached to the badge plate is a safety pin, it should be obvious that the same procedure can be followed for attaching shank portions of other types of pins, or of ribbon-holding loops to badge plates. Hence it is to be understood that the term stationary pin shank is used in the claims in the sense of also including a shank of a ribbon-holding wire loop.

So also, the operating means used to deform the needed prong rivet for effecting the here illustrated badge assembly may be varied greatly while producing the same effect of anchoring the rivet both to the badge plate and to a shank-like element adapted to be received between the prongs of a bifurcated rivet, the here illustrated punch and die having been described merely as simple and effective means for effecting the here disclosed anchoring speedily and inexpensively in the manufacture of badges or the like on a large scale. For example, it should be obvious to any mechanic that when a badge plate or the like is supported (as in the lower portion of Fig. 5) on a rigid support also bearing upwardly against the head of a prong rivet which has its shank extending upwardly through that plate, the pin-shank anchoring can also be effected manually with the aid of simple hand tools.

For this purpose, the mechanic would merely need to insert the corresponding pin shank digitally between the two prongs, then press this shank further downward (as with the tip of a screwdriver) to spread the rivet shanks somewhat, and thereafter clinch the free end parts of the two prongs toward each other either by means of pliers or of any tool having a recess (such as shown at 5 in Figs. 5 and 6) in its lower end.

However, I am not here claiming protection on the disclosed method of manufacture, this being reserved for a corresponding divisional application.

I claim as my invention:

1. A badge comprising a badge plate having a perforation; a two-pronged rivet having its shank extending rearwardly through the said perforation and having its head engaging the front of the said plate; and a pin or the like including a shank straddled by the prongs of the rivet and bearing forwardly against the said plate; the said prongs having their rearward portions curved toward each other behind the said pin shank to clamp the latter rigidly to the said plate.

2. A badge comprising a badge plate having a perforation; a two-pronged rivet having its shank extending rearwardly through the said perforation, and having its head engaging the front of the said plate; and a pin or the like including a shank straddled by the prongs of the rivet; the prong portions contiguous to the plate being spread apart so as to anchor the rivet to the plate, and the more rearward portions of the two i prongs being curved sufficiently around opposite side portions of the said pin shank for firmly gripping that shank.

3.. A badge comprising a badge plate having a perforation; a two-pronged rivet having its shank extending rearwardly through the said perforation, and having its head engaging the front of the said plate; and a pin or the like including a pin shank straddled by the prongs of the rivet and bearing forwardly against the said plate; the said prongs having their rearward portions curved toward each other behind the said pin shank to indent portions of the pin shank into the plate.

4. A badge comprising a badge plate provided with a perforation; a pin or the like including a shank disposed behind and adjacent to the said plate and extending across the axis of the said perforation; and a two-pronged rivet having its shank extending rearwardly and snugly through the said perforation and its head bearing rearwardly against the plate, and having the major portions of its prongs disposed behind the plate and curved respectively around opposite side portions of the said pin part and into gripping relation to the said pin shank.

5. A badge comprising a badge plate provided with a perforation, a pin or the like disposed behind the said plate and including a shank adjacent to the said plate and extending across the axis of the said perforation; and a two-pronged rivet having head bearing rearwardly against the plate and a shank extending rearwardly through the said perforation; the said shank comprising a cylindrical portion fitting the bore of the perforation and shorter than the length of that bore, and two prongs extending rearwardly from the cylindrical portion and presenting rearwardly diverging opposed faces, the spacing between said faces at their base ends being respectively smaller than the diameter of the said pin shank; the said shank being conjointly straddled and tightly gripped by parts of the prongs disposed rearward of the said plate, and the portions of the prongs within the said perforation being spread apart to indent them respectively into opposite sides of the perforation.

6. A badge comprising a badge plate provided with a circular perforation; a pin or the like disposed behind the plate and including a pin shank disposed behind and adjacent to the said plate and extending across the axis of the said perforation; and a fastening member extending through the said perforation and holding the said pin shank fast with respect to the said plate; the fastening member including a head bearing rearwardly against the plate, a cylindrical portion adjacent to the said head and disposed within and fitting the said perforation, and two prongs extending rearwardly from the said cylindrical portion and beyond the rear face of the plate respectively at opposite sides of the said pin shank; the parts of the prongs behind the plate being curved around the pin shank for jointly gripping that shank.

7. In a badge, comprising a plate having a perforation and a pin disposed behind the plate, the pin having a shank extending across the axis of the perforation, means for rigidly fastening the said pin to the plate, the said means comprising: a rivet including a head engaging the front of the plate and a shank extending rearwardly through the said perforation; the shank being longitudinally slitted from its rear end to present two prongs between which the said pin shank extends, the prongs being formed of an initial contour permitting its slidable insertion through the said perforation, and having the said prongs disposed respectively at opposite sides of the said pin shank; the portions of the said prongs adjacent to the rear end of the said perforation being separated to a greater than their initial spread than that corresponding to the said contour in engagement with the rear of the plate and more rearward portions of the two prongs being bent toward each other into gripping relation to the said pin shank.

CHARLES PRIESMEYER. 

